That makes me smile. I grew up a Navy brat and remember the rivalry between the Navy and the Marines, but there was always, underlying the friendly ribbing, the deepest respect for the job each branch does. And I grew up knowing that, throughout their history, the Marines have been held to a higher standard and they have always come through with flying colors. :-)
The Sailor and the Marine
An old Sailor and an old Marine were sitting at the VFW arguing about who'd
had the tougher career.
"I did 30 years in the Corps," the Marine declared proudly, "and fought in
three of my country's wars. Fresh out of boot camp, I hit the beach at
Okinawa, clawed my way up the blood-soaked sand, and eventually took out an
entire enemy machine gun nest with a single grenade.
"As a sergeant, I fought in Korea. We pushed back the enemy inch by bloody
inch all the way up to the Chinese border, always under a barrage of
artillery and small arms fire.
"Finally, as a gunny sergeant, I did three consecutive combat tours in
Vietnam. We humped through the mud and razorgrass for 14 hours a day,
plagued by rain and mosquitoes, ducking under sniper fire all day and
mortar fire all night. In a firefight, we'd fire until our arms ached and
our guns were empty, then we'd charge the enemy with bayonets!"
"Ah," said the Sailor with a dismissive wave of his hand, "all shore duty,
huh?"